Impact and Innovation of Information Technology

This article explores the impact and innovation of information technology in modern accounting systems and finance, with a case study on the Australian context. It discusses how information technology has transformed accounting and finance processes, the benefits it brings to businesses, and the importance of training in utilizing technology effectively. The article also highlights the managerial implications of information technology and provides insights into the limitations and future research directions in this field.

Impact and Innovation of Information Technology
Research Topic: The impact and innovation of information technology in modern
accounting systems and finance, a case study on the Australian context.
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Impact and Innovation of Information Technology
Table of Contents
Summary of theory and progression in the field 3
Common themes and findings across the articles 4
Different themes and findings across the articles 5
Managerial implications of the articles 6
Limitations and the future research directions of the articles 7
References 8

Impact and Innovation of Information Technology
Summary of theory and progression in the field
Information technology plays a major role in every aspect of our lives. It has done the same with
accounting and finance as well. Until a while ago accounting was just considered a mere process
of recording and analyzing the financial transactions along with summarizing them (Otley, et al.,
2013).
But with the evolution of information technology, accounting and finance have gained a rather
modified approach through which all the processing can be easily controlled (Taipaleenmäki and
Ikäheimo, 2013).
According to Clarke, Seng, and Whiting, for a dynamic country like Australia, information
technology has a major impact on business operations. Since finance and accounting includes a
lot of transformation and flow of important financial information, information technology can
ensure that the information reaches safely without any breach of security. They have also
mentioned how the accountants in Australia are adopting electronic book keeping as it minimizes
their efforts including the calculations as well as interpretation of numbers (Clark, et al., 2011).
Ali and Green talk about how information technology is getting highly popular among
organizations as it reduces the complexity of manual procedures and also how it is important to
train people about information technology so that they can get a better idea of using the same so
that the chances of errors reduce and efficiency is increased (Ali and Green, 2009).
According to Joshi, Cahill, Sidhu and Kansal computerization not only provides security but also
is very reliable, ensures clarity and also that the work is done in the given period. They also talk
about how information technology has simplified the bookkeeping procedures which can now be
done very conveniently as compared to the manual bookkeeping procedures (Joshi, et al., 2013).

Impact and Innovation of Information Technology
Common themes and findings across the articles
Following were the common findings across the articles:
The first article by Taipaleenmäki and Ikäheimo states how information technology has played
an important role in accounting and financing and that it is a great opportunity for the Australian
bookkeepers to enhance their skills. The article provides a detailed description of the shift of
accounting from a traditional base to a modern base, and now Australian companies prefer an
electronic bookkeeping system and are imparting training for the same. The need for effective
training has also been highlighted in the article (Taipaleenmäki et al., 2013).
Similarly, in the second article Clarke, Seng and Whiting have mentioned how information
technology helps to enhance the knowledge of the employees and the bookkeepers. Just like the
first article they also talk about how training the bookkeepers can increase the effectiveness, as
well as the efficiency as the cost of hiring personnel, would be reduced (Clarke, Seng and
Whiting, 2011).
The third article written by Ali and Green again specifies the shift in paradigm from manual
work to a computerized one and the reduction in the complexity of doing every procedure in
books. Just like the other articles emphasis has been given to training as it is an important factor
to be considered. Another thing that it shares in common with the other articles is the description
of how the information technology helps in boosting a business (Ali and Green, 2009).
The fourth article by Joshi, Cahill, Sidhu, and Kansal has provided an insight into the
computerized procedures and compared the statistics of companies across various periods. The
performance reports while using manual procedures have been compared with the reports when
electronic procedures were used (Joshi, et al., 2013).

Impact and Innovation of Information Technology
Different themes and findings across the articles
The first article is based on the theme of information technology’s impact on accounting and
finance in general and not completely focusing on the Australian market. It talks about how
information technology placed its first step in the field and how it gradually became popular. Not
much focus has been provided on the training procedures. The study has a theoretical approach
instead of a practical one.
The theme of the second article has provided a detailed study of the advantages of training and
how the bookkeepers can be trained. Methods like on the job training and lectures have been
mentioned, and the authors have also talked about paid internships. They have talked about the
period for which the training should be conducted and also about the procedures to be
undertaken when the existing employees are being trained. The effect of electronic bookkeeping
on the Australian business has also been mentioned.
The third article is based on the theme of cause and effect relationships. The study provides
details about how much a company's profit can increase if the investments are not focused on
increasing the revenue figures, but on enhancing the skills of the workers in the organization.
The article portrays training as a necessity and completely disregards manual methods of work.
However, the precautions to be maintained while training the workers have been mentioned and
how authorization controls have to be maintained is specified.
The fourth article talks about how information technology can further improve the Australian
businesses. It has provided a study of the entire bookkeeping procedure and how to bookkeepers
need to become a part of the analytics team.

Impact and Innovation of Information Technology
Managerial implications of the articles
The first article provides managerial implications regarding the ease of processes that can be
facilitated through the use of information technology in accounting and finance. It explains how
information technology can prove to be a huge opportunity for the Australian businessmen and
bookkeepers. The small businesses can succeed and achieve greater profits if the bookkeepers
get accustomed to the modified way of bookkeeping, i.e., by getting trained for new technology.
Information technology also ensures compliance. Instructions can be set on the computers, and it
can be ensured that all transactions are being recorded as per the rules (Liyan, 2013).
The second article can help the managers as it talks about how those people can also excel in
bookkeeping and other financial works, which are not good at doing it manually. The companies
no longer have to specially recruit such personnel who are good with calculations because that
work can be done on computers. They can assume an active role in the advisory procedures as
well.
Therefore, information technology helps in proper budget allocation as well and saves resources
(Belfo and Trigo, 2013).
The third article can help the managers in understanding how technical training has to be
imparted to the workers in a business as it is the key to achieve the best results.
Soudani explains how expenditure on training the Australian bookkeepers can add to the value of
the businesses as they would not stick to standard procedures of accounting and would enhance
their skills of analysis (Soudani, 2012).
The fourth article explains how the bookkeepers can team up with the stakeholders as they can
together study statistics and make policies and techniques accordingly. It helps in understanding
the greater role that the bookkeepers can play in an organization.
According to a study, information technology has helped in avoiding legal disputes as well
because it is easier to keep a record without any chances of errors (Sajady, Dastgir and Nejad,
2012).
The emergence of IT has led to better work performance of the employees because of increased
coordination and organization (Pan and Seow, 2016). The senior staff does not have to regularly
monitor the subordinates because everything is being done according to set procedures and
standards (Fanning & Centers, 2016).
.

Impact and Innovation of Information Technology
Limitations and the future research directions of the articles
The first article does not give a clear description of how information technology has worked for
Australian businesses. The article has just mentioned the benefits of information technology
about accounting and finance but does not provide complete information as to how the people in
an organization or a business should be trained to handle the technological advancement and also
what can be the limitations of using information technology in accounting and finance.
The second article again just specifies how information technology is advantageous to avoid a
breach of security but doesn’t specify the risks that might arise if the technology is not properly
handled or if provisions aren’t made to prevent its misuse.
The third article does not bring into light the predicament of those workers who are not
comfortable with information technology and cannot immediately shift from manual to
electronic work. It just talks about training the employees without giving light on whether or not
those technologies are user- friendly.
The fourth article has provided the majority of the information on book keeping and not other
aspects of accounting and finance like transfer of information, estimation of budget and
expenses, etc. which are equally important for a business.

Impact and Innovation of Information Technology
References
Ali, S. and Green, P. (2009). Effective information technology (IT) governance mechanisms: An
IT outsourcing perspective. Information Systems Frontiers, 14(2), pp.179-193.
Belfo, F. and Trigo, A., 2013. Accounting information systems: Tradition and future directions.
Procedia Technology, 9, pp.536-546.
Clarke, M., Seng, D. and Whiting, R.H., 2011. Intellectual capital and firm performance in
Australia. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 12(4), pp.505-530.
Fanning, K. and Centers, D.P., 2016. Blockchain and its coming impact on financial services.
Journal of Corporate Accounting & Finance, 27(5), pp.53-57.
Joshi, M., Cahill, D., Sidhu, J., and Kansal, M., 2013. Intellectual capital and financial
performance: an evaluation of the Australian financial sector. Journal of intellectual capital,
14(2), pp.264-285.
Liyan, L., 2013, May. The impact of information technology on accounting theory, the
accounting profession, and Chinese Accounting education. In The Twelfth Wuhan International
Conference on E-Business (pp. 748-753).
Otley, D. and Emmanuel, K.M.C., 2013. Readings in accounting for management control.
Springer.
Pan, G. and Seow, P.S., 2016. Preparing accounting graduates for the digital revolution: A
critical review of information technology competencies and skills development. Journal of
Education for Business, 91(3), pp.166-175.
Sajady, H., Dastgir, M. and Nejad, H.H., 2012. Evaluation of the effectiveness of accounting
information systems. International Journal of Information Science and Management (IJISM),
6(2), pp.49-59.
Soudani, S.N., 2012. The usefulness of an accounting information system for effective
organizational performance. International Journal of Economics and Finance, 4(5), pp.136-145.
Taipaleenmäki, J. and Ikäheimo, S., 2013. On the convergence of management accounting and
financial accounting–the role of information technology in accounting change. International
Journal of Accounting Information Systems, 14(4), pp.321-348.